Personal and environmental air sampling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A self selling air sampling apparatus includes a body with a filter therein and an air moving device, such as a fan, mounted therein for moving air through the filter. There is an air inlet communicating with the filter. There is also a air outlet communicating with the filter. A manually operable control simultaneously opens the air inlet and the air outlet and operates the air moving device for moving air from the air inlet, through the filter and out through the air outlet. For example, the body may be cylindrical and have a cylindrical shell rotatably mounted thereon. The shell and the body have air inlet openings and air outlet openings which are aligned when the shell is rotated in one direction and become unaligned when the shell is rotated in an opposite direction thus sealing off the filter compartment from the outside environment. Rotation of the shell also closes a switch to operate the fan when the shell is rotated in the one direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to air sampling devices and, inparticular, to personal sampling devices easily operable by untrainedpeople.

[0002] Flight crews and aircraft passengers are occasionally exposed tounfavorable air quality conditions. These conditions typically occurduring 1 out of 1000 flight segments, depending upon the airline and themaintenance of the aircraft. A large majority of these incidents arecaused by contamination of the aircraft air from hydraulic fluid whichleaks into the air intake of the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) or from oilseal leakage into the compressor stages of the jet engines which areused to pressurize the aircraft and to provide the aircraft with freshair.

[0003] Bleed air from these engines is exposed to elevated temperatures,often in excess of 500 degrees C. Any oil or hydraulic fluid contaminantin this air will pyrolize, volatize, or both. This often results inflight crews and passengers being exposed to smoke in the cabin. Acuteand long-term symptoms experienced by flight crews during theseincidents are consistent with exposures to the agents associated withoil and hydraulic fluid constituents.

[0004] It is difficult however to measure exposure levels during theseincidents because of their sporadic nature. This makes it virtuallyimpossible to have trained individuals, and specialized equipment, inaircraft when such incidents occur. The equipment previously availableis expensive and difficult to operate for the average flight attendantor other member of the flight crew. Accordingly, very little exposuredata is available.

[0005] Some of these incidents have resulted in near fatal accidents,i.e., both pilots becoming incapacitated, as well as disabling flightattendants and pilots on a long-term basis. It is therefore critical toprovide a practical means of measuring the exposures of flight crews andpassengers when such events occur. The derived information can be usedto provide a basis for medical treatment as well to prevent futureincidence of such exposure to contaminants.

[0006] Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide animproved air sampling apparatus which is inexpensive enough so that eachindividual crew member or aircraft can be provided with the apparatus ona routine basis.

[0007] It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved airsampling apparatus which is simple to operate so that a flight attendantor other member of a flight crew can easily operate the apparatus withminimal training or instructions.

[0008] Is a further object of the invention to provide an improvedpersonal and environmental air sampling apparatus which is compact sothat it does not occupy an inordinate amount of the limited space andcan be carried in a purse or pocket.

[0009] It is a still further object of the invention to provide animproved air sampling apparatus which is rugged in construction andreliable in operation so that it will operate reliably without requiringdelicate handling

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] In accordance with these objects, there is provided an airsampling apparatus which includes a body having a filter mounted thereinand an air moving device mounted therein for moving air through thefilter. There is an air inlet communicating with the filter. An airoutlet also communicates with the filter. There is a manually operablecontrol which simultaneously opens the air inlet and the air outlet andoperates the air moving device for moving air from the air inlet,through the filter and out through the air outlet. Preferably thecontrol can simultaneously close the air inlet and the air outlet andrender the air moving device inoperative.

[0011] The control may include an outer member movably mounted on thebody. The air inlet includes at least one air inlet opening on the bodyand at least one air inlet opening on the outer member. The air outletinclude's at least one air outlet opening on the body and at least oneair outlet opening on the outer member. Said at least one air inletopening on the body is aligned with said at least one air inlet openingon the outer member. Said at least one air outlet opening on the body isaligned with said at least one air outlet opening on the outer memberwhen the outer member is moved in a first direction, to move air throughthe filter. Preferably said at least one air inlet opening on the bodybecomes unaligned with said at least one air outlet opening on the outermember and said at least one air outlet opening on the body becomesunaligned with said at least one air outlet opening on the outer member,when the outer member is moved in a second direction, to seal theapparatus.

[0012] The control may include a switch mounted on the body which iscontacted by the outer member, to close the switch and operate the airmoving device when the outer member is moved in the first direction, andto open the switch and stop the air moving device when the outer memberis moved in the second direction.

[0013] The outer member may be rotatably mounted on the body. The firstdirection is then a first rotational direction and the second directionis then a second rotational direction which is opposite the firstdirection. For example, the body may be generally cylindrical and theouter member may be a cylindrical shell mounted on the body.

[0014] An air sampling apparatus according to the invention offersdistinct advantages compared to the prior art. The apparatus can beoperated by simply moving a manually operable control and thissimultaneously opens the air inlet and air outlet and operates the fanor other air moving device which moves air through the filter. Forexample, this may simply be accomplished by rotating a cylindrical shellmounted on a cylindrical body containing the principal components. Whenthe sampling process is completed, another movement of the manuallyoperable control stops the air moving device and seals the openings.This is simply accomplished by rotating the shell in the oppositedirection for this preferred embodiment.

[0015] When the sample has been taken, the unit is economical enough tobe sent to a laboratory in its entirety for analysis. There is no needfor the flight crew or other user to remove and store filters whichwould necessitate disassembly of the apparatus and potentialcontamination of the filter.

[0016] In brief, the apparatus can be easily operated by most peoplewithout any training at all and with simple instructions which canaccompany the unit. Also the unit is simple and inexpensive enough soall aircraft can carry such an apparatus for the relatively remotepossibility that air contamination will occur during any particularflight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In the drawings:

[0018]FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an air sampling apparatus accordingto an embodiment of the invention;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a simplified, exploded side view thereof;

[0020]FIG. 3 is a simplified, diametrical section of the embodiment ofFIGS. 1 and 2;

[0021]FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the lower portion of the filtercassette thereof;

[0022]FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the air inlet housing of the bodythereof;

[0023]FIG. 6 is a reduced isometric view of the filter cassette thereof;

[0024]FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of an alternative embodimentwith a centrifugal fan; and

[0025]FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the embodiment of FIG.7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] Referring to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1, this shows an airsampling apparatus 20 suitable for sampling air in aircraft or otherlocations where contaminants may occur. The apparatus in this exampleincludes a cylindrical body 22 which has a cylindrical outer shell 24mounted thereon for rotation in the directions indicated by arrows 26.The shell tightly engages the body for a sealing fit, apart from theopenings described below. There is a slot 28 in the shell and a screw 30extending through the slot into the body which limit the amount ofrotational movement of the shell on the body. The apparatus of thisexample fits within a cylinder 2.5 inches in diameter and 3 inches longalthough the size may vary in other embodiments.

[0027] The shell has four air inlet openings 32 in top 33 of the shellto admit air into the apparatus as indicated by arrows 34. The number,size and positioning of the openings can vary in alternativeembodiments. The shell also has four air outlet openings 36 for airexiting the apparatus as indicated by arrows 40 (only three beingvisible in FIG. 1). In this example the openings are in cylindrical side42 of the shell near its bottom 44 and are 90 degrees apart. Inalternative embodiments the number and positions of the openings canchange. There is also an LED 50 which lights to indicate that theapparatus is operational.

[0028] The body 22 has a lower portion which comprises fan housing 54shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The fan housing includes a chamber 56 whichcontains a battery 58, a 9 volt battery in this example, and a fan 60mounted above the battery. This particular fan is an axial flow fanpowered by a motor 62 connected to the battery 58. There is a series offour air outlet openings 64 extending about the fan housing andspaced-apart 90 degrees (only three being visible in FIG. 3). Thesecorrespond in number and position to the air outlet openings 36 in theshell. Openings 64, together with openings 36, comprise air outlets forthe apparatus.

[0029] There is a standard 37 mm filter cassette 66 mounted above thefan in filter compartment 73 and which contains a filter disk 68 asshown in FIG. 4. Other types of filters or size of filter cassetteholders could be used in other embodiments. There is an upper filterhousing 70 mounted on lower filter housing 71 of the filter cassettewith an O-ring 72 compressed therebetween as seen best in FIG. 6.

[0030] The body has an air inlet housing 76, shown best in FIG. 5,mounted on top of the filter housing. The air inlet housing has four airinlet openings 78 in top 79 thereof, which correspond in position andnumber to the air inlet openings 32 in shell 24. The openings 78 andopenings 32 together comprise air inlets for the apparatus. A screw 80extends through opening 82 in the air inlet housing, through opening 84in the fan housing and engages notch 86 on the filter cassette 66.

[0031] There is a switch 90 mounted on the fan housing which has abutton 92. The button engages a ramp 94, on the inside of the shell 24,shown only in FIG. 3, whereby the button is depressed to close theswitch when the shell is rotated in one direction and is released, toopen the switch, when the shell is rotated in the opposite direction.The switch is operatively disposed between the fan motor and the batteryand thus controls operation of the fan.

[0032] In operation, with reference to FIG. 1, the air samplingapparatus is operated by rotating the shell 24 in one rotationaldirection, for example clockwise as shown by arrow 100, the figureshowing the shell partially rotated. A 45 degree twist is used in thisexample although this could vary in other embodiments. This twist causesthe air inlet openings 32 on the shell to align with the air inletopenings 78 on the body to admit air into the apparatus. At the sametime, the air outlet openings 36 of the shell align with air outletopenings 64 in the body to permit air to exit the apparatus.Simultaneously, the rotation causes ramp 94 on the inside of the shellto depressed button 92 and close switch 90. This operates the air movingdevice, in the form of fan 60, by means of battery 58 powering motor 62.

[0033] The apparatus is operated for a preset period of time and may, insome embodiments, have an integral timer which operates the motor 62 forthe preset time. The air enters the apparatus as indicated by arrows 34in FIG. 1 to cause suction of fan 60 as indicated by arrows 100 in FIG.3. This draws air through the filter 68. Air expelled by the fan exitsthe apparatus through the outlet openings 64 in the body, as shown byarrows 102 in FIG. 3. In this example the air flow is between 0.5 and1.0 liters per minute and the device can operate from 2-5 hours,depending upon the filter used. The device however can be scaled upwardto use a larger fan, larger battery and larger filters, or scaleddownward, for different air quality applications. In addition, thefilter compartment can also be used to incorporate other air contaminantcapturing agents such as absorbents and adsorbents to target specificcontaminants.

[0034] After the apparatus has been operated for the preset time, theuser rotates shell 24 in the opposite direction, counterclockwise inthis particular embodiment, as illustrated by arrow 103 in FIG. 1. Thiscauses the air inlet openings 32 in the shell to become unaligned withair inlet openings 73 in the body. Simultaneously the air outletopenings 36 in the shell become maligned with air outlet openings 604 inthe body. Thus the inside of the apparatus, including the filter, areeffectively sealed. At the same time, ramp 94 backs off of button 92which causes the switch 92 to open and stops the fan motor 62. The unitcan then be placed in a suitable storage position and forwarded to alaboratory for analysis at a convenient time.

[0035] A centrifugal fan 60.1 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, can be substitutedin alternative embodiment for the axial fan 60 shown in FIG. 3. In thisembodiment where like parts have like numbers as in the previousembodiment, with the additional designation “.1”, the air outletopenings 64.1 are moved upwardly to be in alignment with the fan insteadof being below the fan as is the case with the axial fan of the previousembodiment. Likewise outlet openings 36.1 in shell 24.1 arecorresponding raised.

[0036] It will be understood by someone skilled in the art that many ofthe details provided above are by way of example only and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention which is to be interpretedwith reference to the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air sampling apparatus, comprising: a bodyhaving a filter mounted therein and an air moving device mounted thereinfor moving air through the filter; an air inlet communicating with thefilter; an air outlet communicating with the filter; and a manuallyoperable control which simultaneously opens the air inlet and the airoutlet and operates the air moving device for moving air from the airinlet, through the filter and out through the air outlet.
 2. The airsampling apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control cansimultaneously close the air inlet and the air outlet and render the airmoving device inoperative.
 3. The air sampling apparatus as claimed inclaim 2, the control including an outer member movably mounted on thebody, the air inlet including at least one air inlet opening on the bodyand at least one air inlet opening on the outer member, the air outletincluding at least one air outlet opening on the body and at least oneair outlet opening on the outer member, said at least one air inletopening on the body being aligned with said at least one air inletopening on the outer member and said at least one air outlet opening onthe body being aligned with said at least one air outlet opening on theouter member when the outer member is moved in a first direction, tomove air through the filter.
 4. The air sampling apparatus as claimed inclaim 3, wherein said at least one air inlet opening on the body becomesunaligned with said at least one air inlet opening on the outer memberand said at least one air outlet opening on the body becomes unalignedwith said at least one air outlet opening on the outer member, when theouter member is moved in a second direction, to seal the apparatus. 5.The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control includes aswitch mounted on the body which is contacted by the outer member, toclose the switch and operate the air moving device when the outer memberis moved in the first direction, and to open the switch and stop the airmoving device when the outer member is moved in the second direction. 6.The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the outer member isrotatably mounted on the body, the first direction being a firstrotational direction and the second direction being a second rotationaldirection which is opposite the first rotational direction.
 7. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the body is generallycylindrical and the outer member is a cylindrical shell rotatablymounted on the body.
 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein thebody and the outer member each has a top and a cylindrical side, the airinlet openings comprising openings in the tops of the body and the outermember respectively and the air outlet openings comprising openings inthe sides of the body and the outer member respectively.
 9. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the outer member has a rampfacing the switch on the body, the ramp closing the switch when theouter member is rotated in the first rotational direction and openingthe switch when the outer member is rotated in the second rotationaldirection.
 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the airmoving device is a fan.
 11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10,wherein the fan is power operated.
 12. The apparatus as claimed in claim11, including a battery mounted in the body and connected to the fan.13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the fan is an axialfan.
 14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the fan is acentrifugal fan.